Medical Treatments for Prostate Cancer

There are many different medical treatments for prostate cancer that involve the clinical care of a healthcare professional. These treatments include expectant therapy, surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy. Expectant therapy is to carefully observe and monitor the prostate cancer. Because prostate cancer cells often spread very slowly, many older men who have the disease may not need more extensive treatment. However, expectant therapy usually includes routine physician examinations, including digital rectal exams and PSA tests. The different types of surgery for prostate cancer are radical prostatectomy - an open-surgery procedure in which the entire prostate gland and surrounding tissue are removed. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) - surgery to remove part of the prostate gland that surrounds the urethra. Cryosurgery - this procedure involves killing the cancer cells by freezing them with a small metal tool placed in the tumor. Side effects of prostate cancer surgery include incontinence and impotence. Incontinence is the inability to control urine and may result in dribbling of urine, especially immediately after surgery. Normal control usually returns within weeks or months after surgery. Impotence is the inability to achieve an erection. For a month, or so, after surgery, most men are not able to get an erection. Eventually, approximately 40 to 60 percent of men will be able to get an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse, but without ejaculation of semen, since removal of the prostate gland prevents that process.

Radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill or shrink cancer cells, and to decrease their ability to divide. Radiation is often used to treat prostate cancer that is still confined to the prostate gland, or has spread only to nearby tissue. If the disease is advanced, radiation may be used to reduce the size of the tumor and to provide relief from symptoms. Possible side effects of radiation for prostate cancer may include diarrhea, with or without blood in the stool, and colitis, problems associated with urination, a degree of impotence (inability to get an erection), which may occur within two years of radiation therapy.

The goal of hormone therapy is to lower the level of male hormones in the body, particularly testosterone. Hormone therapy does not cure the cancer, and is often used to treat persons whose cancer has spread or recurred after treatment. Produced mainly in the testicles, testosterone causes prostate cancer cells to grow. Thus, reduced testosterone levels can make the prostate cancer shrink and become less active. Most studies show that hormone therapy works better if it is started early. Chemotherapy is the use of powerful, anti-cancer medications to kill cancer cells.. Hospitalization may be needed to monitor treatment and chemotherapy's side effects. Common side effects of chemotherapy include: nausea and vomiting, hair loss, anemia, reduced ability of blood to clot, mouth sores, increased likelihood of developing infections, fatigue. Most side effects disappear once treatment is stopped.

after prostate cancer surgery
Prostate Cancer and Erectile Dysfunction - WebMD
Though prostate cancer is not a cause of erectile dysfunction, treatments for Surgery. Some degree of erectile dysfunction occurs right after surgery to

Prostate Cancer
A radical prostatectomy is surgery to remove the entire prostate gland and regional lymph nodes after a diagnosis of prostate cancer is made.

Sex after prostate surgery, a first-person story
less than 5 weeks after surgery; another man continues to indicate he was not had I was 57 when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was devastated.

Article on Laparoscopic prostate cancer surgery from Boston Globe
While the operation may make prostate cancer less frightening to patients, ''The big advantage is that at two weeks after surgery, my laparoscopic

Prostate Cancer Resources and Information | OncoLink
The incidence of prostate cancer rises quickly after the age of 60, and the majority .. Surgery for prostate cancer is generally felt to be equivalent to

Prostate Cancer Surgery: Weighing the Risks and Benefits
An article / discussion that attempts to weigh the risks and benefits of this treatment modality.

Prostate Cancer: - Monitoring After Treatment
How is cancer recurrence detected? Monitoring after surgery; Monitoring after radiotherapy to the prostate; Monitoring when no additional treatment is given

Radiation After Prostate Cancer Surgery Increases Survival
Patients with advanced stage prostate cancer who receive radiation therapy immediately after surgery to remove their prostate live longer without their

Prostate Cancer Treatment Options -- familydoctor.org
Also, the surgery provides your doctor with accurate information about how No treatment can cure prostate cancer after hormone therapy stops helping.

What happens after prostate cancer surgery? March 2000; 73-6
What happens after prostate cancer surgery? Results; Comment. Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men, and in the majority the cancer will be

Prostate Cancer, After Surgery, Seattle, Washington, What To
What to Expect After Surgery. Here's what to expect after your prostate surgery:. Recovery Your body needs time to recover. Definitions: Prostate Cancer


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